What Can I Give in Return?

There are times when all of us fall into the trap of taking ourselves too seriously or lapsing into habits of self-importance. Life usually brings us back to reality with an abrupt dash of cold water. In today’s reading from the Book of Job, the Lord gives the prophet Job one such dose of reality by asking him some pointed questions: Have you ever made the morning begin, or walked about in the depths of the sea, or fully comprehended the breadth of the earth? “Well, no I haven’t!” followed by some respectful silence is the correct answer for Job and all the rest of us as well.

Keeping our God-relationship in order, remembering how immense God is and how small we are and how persistently loving God is and how erratic we are is never-ending work. We keep forgetting the truth and that serves us badly as we stumble through life making our daily choices and decisions.

Take a few moments every day to remember who you are in relation to God whom we properly call “almighty.” Speak your thanks that he remembers you even when you forget. And then look at the next question: What can I do, what can I give, in return for all that he has done for me?